The Bunshin
by forever - a i n e
Summary: He walked the thin line holding off insanity and lived through things that would have killed others. All it took was for him to see her again, and he found himself trading with his life...gladly. Oneshot, HidanxOC


**A/N**: A HidanxOC story? What on _earth _was I thinking!

I do not approve of swearing in stories, in _any_ stories. But there is a lot of bad words here. Courtesy of Hidan, who would have to eat his scythe if he didn't swear. So this is PG13. Really!

On a more serious note - HAHAHAHA! - this is a long one, so you might want to bring a cup of hot chocolate and some cookies along for the ride! :)

Disclaimer: No! I don't own Naruto, darn it!

* * *

**The Bunshin**

___...falling into insanity..._

_HidanxOC_

_The Bunshin __©forever - a i n e_

* * *

He had been kissed awake, kicked awake, shoved awake, and during one particularly deep slumber, stabbed awake. Including Kakuzu, all his previous partners were unscrupulously eager to use his immortality as a chance to poke some sizeable holes in him as a wake-up call. He had it coming for him, though. Doubtless the grief he gave them each and every day in the form of complaints, taunts and sheer stupidity had greatly stimulated his partners' creative juices.

But despite his considerable experience in such situations, this time Hidan opened his eyes to the sunshine with no clue how to react.

"Good morning," the slender brunette sitting some feet away smiled.

Eyes narrowed, he stared at her for a few moments. "Eiri," he spoke the name like a curse, "what the hell did you do!"

"Chakra exhaustion," she diagnosed to his confusion, as she focused on arranging her medicines and bandages back in her small bag. "It's better if you don't move for a while."

"What?" Hidan snapped. "What do you mean, don't move! I can't move even if I wanted to!" Heavily bandaged hands jerked skywards in exasperation. "You made me into a damn mummy!" Struggling to sit up, he tugged furiously at the bandages that were wound around every part of his tall frame his female partner could bring herself to touch. "Wrapping me up like this isn't going to do anything for my chakra exhaustion, damn it!" A headache was creeping up, and it was only morning.

Eiri glanced up. "Of course it won't, but hey…calm down…"

"You're seriously asking for it, you -! You want to die so bad? Huh?" Hidan snarled. Eiri blanched, and shook her head.

"It was supposed to keep you from moving…it was supposed to be a joke." The corners of her mouth turned up wryly. "Sorry, didn't know you'd get pissed."

_Of course you did. _Hidan's eyes, a curious combination of crimson and purple, flashed in anger as he cut through the bandages with his scythe. "You freaking moron," he muttered, ignoring her unsettled gaze.

"You may be immortal, but you still have to take care of yourself," Eiri replied, watching her handiwork slashed to ribbons.

Their eyes met, and his lips curled, half sneer and half mocking smile. Caught unawares, she blinked in surprise, then puzzlement. "What?" Her voice was raised in laughing curiosity.

Standing, Hidan hefted his unnerving weapon, and shrugged off the last of the bandages. Without speaking, he turned and walked off.

"What – what? Hey!" Snatching her pack, his partner hurried after him.

"Let's get out of this place." He didn't turn around. Neither did Eiri, though the presence of the black stone burned in her mind like hot iron.

The stone was about three feet high and roughly rectangular in shape, with a curved top. And though it sat in the middle of the clearing as if it belonged there, it couldn't have been more out of place hanging from a baboon's pink posterior. From the way Hidan had been acting around it, Eiri suspected he knew exactly what it was for. In fact, it was highly likely that it was somehow responsible for his current state of complete chakra exhaustion. Hidan refused to speak about it, or even respond to comments on it, and she knew even if she asked about how he had managed to exhaust _all _his chakra while she was sleeping, he would remain irritatingly closemouthed.

But the kunoichi didn't need to be told anything to know that there was a permeating wrongness about the rock, something that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand. Seeming to suck in all light that touched it, the rock too closely resembled a tombstone.

Shuddering, Hanasaka Eiri increased her pace, glad to leave the obsidian rock and its mysteries behind.

Her partner noticed the movement from the corner of his eye. Hidan had been watching her in his surprisingly discreet way since the morning.

He had seen every gesture she had made since he woke.

She looked okay, almost normal, and he allowed himself to hope. Always confident about his own abilities, in this case he was wretchedly unsure, though he'd never show it. At the beginning it had been almost too much to hope for, that she'd be the same, and in fact she was still far from it. But over time, deep inside he allowed himself to hope, perhaps over time she'd become the girl he once knew.

Allowing himself a sideways glance, he caught her smiling.

Maybe there was a chance.

"Hey, Hidan," she started with a carefully cheerful turn of her lips. And then, despite himself and all his efforts, Hidan found memories from a year ago flashing relentlessly through his mind.

* * *

**NINE MONTHS AND SIX DAYS AGO**

"It's Hidan-sama, you – annoying – !" With much difficulty he swallowed the expletive, cursing Pein for the hundredth time. Of all things he had to recruit this _girl, _who was a through and through healer. Her calling was downright irritating in itself, and the girl was doubly so. But no, it wasn't enough for him to just tolerate her, now he was forced to endure her presence every time Kakuzu left on his _reconnaissance missions, _which was just another way of saying he was murdering more people for money. That fucking bastard.

Not that Hidan had anything against the murder, but killing was for the satisfaction, the exquisite pain, excitement, and, of course, for his god. But killing for _money. _That was beyond distasteful, it was disgusting.

"Hidan-sama!" She called, her raised voice the only sign of anger. But even so, it could have been because she was sitting some distance away, apparently unnerved by the sight of the long handled knife through his middle. Lying in the middle of his religious symbol, a triangle within a circle, with the knife stabbed through his middle to the ground, Hidan scorned her queasiness.

The wimp couldn't even handle the sight of his ritual to Jashin.

"What," he drawled in his most provoking voice.

"How much longer?"

"Twenty minutes," he replied flatly.

"Whaaaat?"

"_I said_ _twenty…_" he paused mid-snarl as she recoiled slightly, realizing he had misinterpreted her tone. "It's not like I'm happy about it, either, but I have to! Seriously," Hidan tried to stare down a particularly inquisitive bird on a branch above, swearing silently he'd pluck it feather by feather and roast it if it dared to release any bit of it better dropped somewhere else, "you're not the one with a hole in your stomach, so quit your damn complaining."

Five minutes later, prodding at a rock, she called again. "How much longer?"

"Fifteen minutes!"

Silence. Even spoken mentally, his vehement curses seemed powerful enough to make the bird stumble off the branch. Half a second before it well and truly committed suicide in Hidan's mouth, the sparrow righted itself in midair and fluttered madly away. Hidan didn't know who he wanted to kill more at that moment; the insanely frustrating girl or the chirping, fluffy...thing.

Six minutes later, toeing a blade of grass, she called again. "How much longer…?"

He exploded. "This ritual is thirty _minutes! _Not fifteen! _Not _twenty! _Not thirty seconds! _Okay!"

Not wishing to see her reaction, he shut his eyes as he unloaded his exasperation. Then, unable to resist, he slid one eye open. Halfway was as far as it went, because his brows were crashing down.

Either she had gotten acclimated to his brusqueness, or she had mastered her face before he looked up. "Okay, okay." Surprise flitted a little too late across her face, and he suspected it wasn't quite authentic. "Sorry to disturb. I'll just go scout…bye."

He shut his eyes. Why couldn't she be like Kakuzu and just hit him when she was angry? Maybe it wasn't a problem with her. Maybe all girls were like that.

Then to Hidan, girls were annoying, irritating, and either had a good grip on their temper or no temper at all. Eiri drove him _mad, _and in no romantic sense at all. Sometimes he wondered why he still hadn't just killed her for the heck of it, and most times he wondered that aloud.

It was a _little _scary that Eiri could listen to that and smile. Smile. That's all the damn girl did.

_Shit, _he thought. And then he jinxed himself. _Life, _he mused, _needs more excitement. _

A piercing scream slashed through the air.

Jerking upwards instinctively, Hidan winced, then groaned. Since _when _did Jashin acquire a sense of humour?

He knew that scream. By Jashin, only she could reach that kind of pitch.

"Eiri!" He yelled, alert to the sudden silence. Even the most trained shinobi leaked a killing aura, and he couldn't sense anything. But there were some, like the damn Sharingan, that were good enough to mask their presence completely. But if his moronic partner had stumbled over someone of that caliber, she wouldn't have been given a chance to draw breath, let alone scream.

…Probably.

Hidan swore loudly, scanning the trees. Four more minutes. Just four more minutes, but if he got up now he'd have to pay later. Not much later. He really, really, really didn't want to – Hidan sighed. _Up we bloody go,_ he thought disgustedly.

The dagger thumped against the dirt as he flung it aside, and without a second glance he was striding out towards the direction of the scream.

"Eiri! Oi, Hanasaka _Eiri!" _In the silent expanse of trees, his voice rang out unnaturally loud.

Leaves rustled in the wind, and he tensed, quickening his pace, grip tightening unconsciously around his scythe. Could she really have gotten ambushed? Disregarding the possibilities of that happening – it was too depressingly high – he quickly considered what that meant.

He'd have to explain to Pein how another of his partners had been KIA. He'd be rid of that irritating, inscrutable woman. He would never see her again.

A twinge of pain shot up his leg, and he stumbled. Not knowing why he was so agitated, he got more agitated.

"_Eiri!" _He shouted, voice hoarse from the strain. The tree trunk seemed to explode as his fist smashed into it, and the top keeled over with a groan. Instead of stepping forward to avoid being squashed by a falling tree, Hidan reached up and, seconds before it crashed into him, gave it what seemed like a backhanded slap.

Leaves wrenched free from the branches as the huge mass of bark flew backwards too fast for the eye to see.

Ignoring the cloud of fluttering leaves, Hidan focused on the stabbing pain in his fist and cleared his thoughts. There were no signs or sounds of battle, so presumably she'd been taken out. It was more likely that she would be kept alive and tortured for information, rather than killed.

But if the purpose was revenge, it would be logical to target the weakest member of Akatsuki…which was undoubtedly her. Was _that _why Pein had paired them together? He was a short-distance battle type, and to top it off, immortal. Anyone aiming for Eiri would have to get past him first, and not only did he not go down easy, he also wouldn't kill her in the process of protecting her – unlike Deidara, with his 'art is a bang!'.

So she could be dead, or not dead? Hidan gritted his teeth. His breath caught as a spasm crossed his chest. Coughing, he doubled over. Already he had spent too much time looking for her; he didn't have that much left to spare.

Thinking was sure a lot of help. He could only hope the enemy, whoever he was, only wanted information. Then he could find her before she was killed. Preferably before she was tortured, as well.

Find her? Hidan laughed hoarsely. The strict precepts of his religion was one reason why he never missed the thirty minute death ritual, but the other, more compelling reason was the punishment. He could no more avoid it than he could cast off his immortality.

Hidan had half an hour before he would collapse. Ten minutes of muscle spasms and cramps. Ten minutes of excruciating pain. The last ten minutes would be a fight for consciousness, though, for the agony that he knew would burn like living flames, he'd be much happier just blacking out.

Damn, why had he let her out of sight?

Stopping where he judged the scream had originated, Hidan searched the undergrowth with practiced efficiency, in his haste missing some details that he normally would have spotted.

"Hanasaka Eiri," he murmured, the words harsh yet soft with emotion. A rustle sounded and he turned instantly, feeling the lack of killing intent and relaxing with the knowledge that it could only be one person.

A squirrel scampered out, freezing as it locked gazes with the silver haired, unmistakably distressed predator. Then, bushy tail quivering slightly, it shifted a quarter of an inch backwards, then disappeared in a streak of brown. Eyes that were more crimson than purple in the shaded forest, Hidan stared for a moment at the now empty spot.

That was when he saw the drops of blood. Slowly, almost against his will, his eyes followed the dark crimson droplets, followed the occasional smears until he saw the sandaled foot. His heart dropped to his stomach. It was hers, alright, he doubted any other self-respecting kunoichi would wear orange striped sandals. She was the only person he knew who actually thought they looked good.

Thank _Jashin _the sandal was attached to a slender calf, then to a thigh and then to what he could tell from his peripheral vision was a fully attached body. If it had been _just _a foot…Hidan couldn't even bring himself to swallow. His throat was too dry, and his stomach lurching too much.

When had he last been this nervous? Been this scared? He couldn't remember. When you're immortal and even a knife at your eye doesn't scare anymore, perspective disappears. And inevitably sanity is the next to go.

He actually had held on pretty long. Though by the time Eiri entered his life he'd been teetering on the edge.

And then…and then…he saw the dark purple bruises on the top of her thigh, just under her shorts. She was lying in a pool of red. Hidan forced himself to look up. He couldn't believe the amount of effort it took.

Crimson handprints stained her white shirt, still wet. Whoever it was who attacked her probably was still nearby. Yet Hidan couldn't help noticing how they were…wrong, somehow. Something about the size. Or maybe the position?

Blood. There was blood everywhere. Eiri was lying in a pool of it. Her hands were stained with it. Her lips…her mouth, it was there too.

Paler than usual, her sleek black hair framing her face in a messy halo, she was, he thought blankly, more beautiful than ever.

_Too late, _was the first thing that crossed his mind.

It was also the second thing that crossed his mind. But strangely enough he was kneeling beside her, trying furiously to remember every single healing or lifesaving technique he had either picked up or been taught by Eiri, while feeling her wrist for a pulse. If it was Kakuzu lying here, Hidan would drag him by the hair to headquarters for healing, cursing the man all the way. But that was because Kakuzu was a man, Hidan reasoned.

A few seconds passed. No medical jutsus or miracle herbs came to mind. His legs were cramping.

No pulse.

The evidence was staring at him in the face. Too late, too late…_she was dead. _

The three words rang faintly in his mind, yet the only thing that he could really comprehend, was the need to find her safe, sound and one hundred percent alive. He had never felt that way for someone before. At least, not to that level of desperation, to the point where in an effort to keep himself from losing control he could only allow himself one thought – to get her alive somehow.

Start her heart with a jolt of lightning. Or would that fry her? Hidan didn't know how to fine-tune his jutsus. Mouth to mouth resuscitation? Wasn't that for drowning? Raise her legs so blood would flow to her head? He'd heard that somewhere. Then Hidan glanced at the ground. What blood? It looked like all of it was drying happily in the sun.

All that thinking took about a second. Obviously no solution was forthcoming, and he wasn't going to realize that for some time. Hidan wasn't an idiot, he just got stressed so rarely he didn't function well when on the really, really rare occasion he actually did get stressed.

_What am I supposed to do,_ Hidan wondered as drops of perspiration fell down his cheek, _drag her from the gates of Hell? _

The man was actually seriously contemplating the idea when blood rushed through the vein under the fingertips he hadn't yet removed.

"Hanasaka." In a smooth motion he had pulled her up by the wrist and leaned her back against his upper arm. Her head rested limply on his shoulder. It took the silver haired man all of two seconds to realize that things, already astoundingly bad, had gotten worse.

She was sweating.

The heat from her sudden fever could be felt even through his clothes. Passing beyond what could be considered a normal fever, her temperature had shot through the roof. A moment later, when what little of her breathing he could detect turned erratic and faint, he swore.

Eiri might as well have been a doll for all the effort he took to pick her up in his arms, turn and run towards headquarters. Luckily there was only a few hours walk left. Even so, judging by the wrenching pain that tore at his insides, Hidan knew it was going to be a close thing. _Damn, _he thought, looking at the girl in his arms. First her heart stops beating and then it beats too much. Even at death's door she could find a way to make his life miserable. Damn.

_Damn, damn damn. Damn. _Hidan swore fluently as he ran. Five minutes later the pain had crossed the threshold into stabbing agony. Hidan was still cursing a quarter of an hour later when, drenched in perspiration, he stumbled into headquarters and nearly got his head blasted off by a clay bird.

Ducking, leaping sideways and rolling away from a C-1 explosion was by no means an easy feat, especially while carrying an unconscious person with long hair that tended to fly up and block your view, but somehow Hidan managed to do all that and even shield his partner in the process.

"It's you, un." Deidara stood up from where he had been fashioning a new design of explosive, which to Hidan looked just as downright ugly as the rest. "Even you should know better than to…" That was when he saw the unconscious girl in Hidan's arms.

Before he could speak another word, Hidan grabbed him by the front of his cloak, forcing words through gritted teeth. "Get Konan. Now." Deidara didn't fail to notice that the silver haired man had grabbed him more for support – Hidan was swaying dangerously – than to make his point.

"Ah…un…" Deidara turned to run. Hidan grabbed the back of his cloak. The blonde shinobi nearly did a backward flip.

"Use the damn bird, moron. Otherwise I'd go myself." Which was a lie. Panting, barely able to walk and struggling to see past the black spots covering his vision, it would be a miracle if Hidan made it to his room.

"Okay!" The blonde shinobi leaped on his artwork. "I'll bring her to your room, un!" Deidara yelled behind him.

Not for the first time Hidan wished the headquarters wasn't the size of your average small village. It didn't _look _like one, but it was about that size. One quarter of it was completely devoted to herbs, plants and whatever else the two women decided to plant, but the rest was, astonishingly, living space.

One of the reasons the Akatsuki lived in land big enough for a small village was that they valued their privacy, but the other, more practical reason was also that it was safer. Look at how Deidara spent his free time. He made explosives, for heaven's sake. The bomb expert was any sane neighbor's nightmare. And then previously there had been Orochimaru, who experimented on animals and humans, stinking up everything within a thirty foot radius.

The only unusual thing about Hidan's room, however, was it's occupants – one burning up the bed, the other enduring agony that would have had any other man screaming. It must have helped that Hidan actually _liked _pain, but from his muttered vulgarities, his tolerance seemed to be slipping.

Raising an unbelievable amount of dust, the clay bird landed heavily outside two minutes later. With nimble ease the pair riding the bird leaped off and rushed inside.

"Oh, he's dead, un." Was the first thing Deidara said.

"Don't worry about him, he's immortal." Konan murmured, searching the comatose girl for wounds. Finding none, she frowned and swiftly checked Eiri's vitals.

"Yeah. I guess, un. What's wrong with her?" Deidara stepped over Hidan and made his way to the bed.

"I don't know…I think…" Konan paused. "Get out, Deidara."

The blonde man blinked. "Okay. Un."

"Take the nuisance with you." Konan added as he turned to leave.

Deidara dragged Hidan out. In the thin line between semi-consciousness and complete blackout, Hidan swore.

More than thirty minutes had passed since he aborted the ritual – his punishment was, more or less, over. Hidan couldn't let his consciousness fade; something inside wouldn't let him. Exhausted, he let his mind wander.

He wondered if she'd be okay. He tried to figure out why something in him seemed to be missing. As if there was a gap to be filled, as if…

_Oh, _Hidan thought, _where the hell's my scythe? _

Man, just being separated like that for a few minutes caused an ache? He must be losing it.

Time passed. It could have been a few minutes or a couple of hours, Hidan didn't know. By the time the door slid open, he had all but succumbed to exhaustion.

Deidara jumped to his feet. Surprisingly, he had waited as well. "How is she?"

Konan paused, aware of the sudden lack of breathing going on. "She'll make it."

A collective sigh. Then deep, deep breaths.

"Seems like she ate _akari_ by mistake, that's why there was so much blood – she vomited it…"

Hidan finally let himself go and sank into blackness.

_Why, _he would ask himself later – much, much later – _why did I never think to ask what _akari_ was?_

* * *

"Hello? Hidan?" Eiri raised her brows.

Her partner blinked, memories fading from his mind. He arched a silver brow in reply, and Eiri rolled her eyes, smiling wryly. "You really won't tell me anything about the stone? And how you managed to use up all your chakra?"

"Haah? What stone?" He frowned. "What chakra? Seriously, I don't get what you're saying."

"Oh. Not going to tell me?" An arch voice shot back in reply.

"Is that a threat?" Hidan snapped.

Eiri raised a brow. While her foul mouthed partner was notorious for his attitude, he was in fact hard to provoke. That is, when she wasn't trying. When she wasn't trying to get him mad for the heck of it, his temper, though unpredictable, rarely flared.

"Uh, no. Actually." Eiri muttered.

"Haah! Actually what?" Apparently the devout man was in a _really _bad mood – he wasn't letting her go so easily.

"Actually…" Eiri began, then stopped short as Hidan glared. "Actually I'm really hungry! Didn't we skip breakfast? I think we did." A pause. "Daaaamn I'm starving."

Another pause. Eiri swung to a stop as the tall man grabbed her shoulder. Before she steadied herself she knew something was wrong.

"Hidan?" Heartbeat speeding up, Eiri searched his near-red eyes apprehensively. Ever since they stopped at the stone, things had been wrong. Hidan had been brooding, yes, but it was worse than that.

"You…" Hidan muttered, using the ruder form _teme _instead of his usual _omae, _seeming not to notice his partner's nervousness. "You're really like your original self."

"What?" Eiri smiled, but her brows creased in confusion.

"I mean…" As if only then noticing her wavering gaze, Hidan let go and stepped back. "After what happened. I thought talking like this would be impossible."

Hazel eyes so light they were almost gold turned to ice. The impression was like looking at the midday sun through a falling drop of water.

Their eye contact lasted only a moment, and they averted their gazes at the same time. One was bursting with words he'd never entertain in his head, let alone out of his mouth, and the other was searching for words she didn't mean and had no heart to say.

It was the worst kind of silence.

They say that love makes you go out of control, makes you go crazy - but Hidan was already crazy, in a curious interpretation of the word. Hidan didn't know how to deal with falling in love.

"Are you talking about the time I ate _akari _by accident?" Eiri's voice was, amazingly, light.

Eyes, at that moment crimson, narrowed. Before he could stop himself Hidan was snarling. "You _know –" _He managed, with great effort, to catch himself before he could do more damage. Since their on-and-off missions from a year ago, he had learnt some things about the perpetually calm seeming kunoichi. She was a ridiculously optimistic person. She smiled, smiled, smiled,smiled, _all the time. _She could hold a grudge for a day at most, and a rare fit of rage for five minutes max.

And even though Eiri didn't get hurt easily, she would let the words themselves – whether they pierced her or not – fester inside. That was something that Hidan couldn't understand. Sometimes he thought she was, in her own way, as sick inside as he was.

It wasn't like the every word stretched out its diseased tendrils within her. She wasn't quite _that _far gone. It's just that a big part of her banished the hurt somewhere else, someplace far away, till she nearly couldn't feel it at all. At least, that's what it seemed like to Hidan. Then she went about being _happy, _while that tiny part wilted more and more.

Months had passed before Hidan noticed, and being the person he was, he had done quite a bit of damage till then. Though he had noticed her strange…illness, by the time the damned _akari _incident had passed.

"You know that's not what I meant." Hidan spoke finally, his voice only part snarl. Then something seemed to occur to him. "But you're here now…" The edge of his lip turned up in a strange mocking smile. "I guess that's all that matters."

Eiri stared at him, unnerved. "Alright, we're going to be late at this rate. " She strode past him. Then she stopped, turned, and flashed him a smile. "Let's go."

Hidan couldn't help himself. "Seriously, your smile is freaking annoying. Can't stand it," he drawled, swinging his scythe over his shoulder as he overtook the brunette. Looking from the corner of his eyes, he couldn't be sure but he thought he saw her falter.

"What?" She looked up, but Hidan kept his gaze straight ahead.

"I can't tell what you're thinking when you smile – yeah, when you smile like that,because it's so obviously _fake." _Hidan didn't close his eyes. He didn't look back either, because there wasn't any point at all, he already knew what he'd see in his partner's honey-flecked eyes.

The rest of the journey passed in the midst of cheerful nonsense that really wasn't any different from dead silence.

When the two cloaked Akatsuki finally stepped inside headquarters, they were greeted by a roaring C2 explosive that was the size of your average dragon.

"That fucking _idiot!" _Hidan leaped sideways, catching his slower partner by the collar as he did so.

""Don't worry, I won't detonate it, un." Deidara leaped on his explosive artwork. "How do you like my art, un."

"Haaah? That piece of crap?"

"You…" Deidara began, raising his hand in a releasing jutsu. That was when he saw Eiri.

Deidara gaped. After a long moment the blonde man leaped off the clay bird and in three strides was toe to toe with Hidan. "You've got to be kidding me, un."

"What're you saying?" Hidan shoved the man a comfortable distance away.

"_Kisama," _Deidara spat, ignoring the way Hidan's grip on his scythe tightened at the expletive, "you know that jutsu is forbidden, un!" Eiri stepped back, instantly cautious. She had never seen Deidara lose his cool before, and the sight of him jerking into a full-blown rage was frightening.

"Like I said, _what are you saying?" _Shifting his weight till he could move easily in an instant, Hidan gripped his weapon.

"Hidan, you idiot, un. She can't remember, can she?" Deidara turned to Eiri. "Two months after _akari, _un, what happened?"

"Deidara?" Eiri shifted her weight uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

"Doesn't matter, un. Hidan, you should know that jutsu is only going to get you killed." While he was speaking, Deidara's eyes never left the increasingly scared kunoichi.

Eiri stepped forward hesitantly. "Deida…ra…?""

An arm swung out, stopping her dead in her tracks. "Don't fucking move," Hidan said flatly. "Now that he knows he'll try to kill you."

Eiri turned, expression incredulous. "_Kill _me? Now that he knows what? What did you do, Hidan?" For someone who rarely lost her temper, the slender kunoichi's self-imposed limits were cracking. Hidan glanced down, wondering whether all the willpower she was trying to summon would be enough to stop her from slapping his arm away and walking over to Deidara, demanding an explanation. One look told him that – forget about demanding an explanation – she was about to attack _him. _

"That's enough," Hidan muttered, and, grabbing Eiri's sleeve, he dragged her roughly away.

"What are you – let me go! Hidan! _Let me – " _

" – Oi, shut up! Let _me _settle this with Deidara-_kun, _okay?" Ignoring glares he was receiving from both sides, Hidan shot his own death stare Deidara's way. "Huh! Okay! Then I'll get back to you, damn it! Just stay in your damn room for now!"

"Knowing you," with a sharp jerk Eiri wrenched herself free, "I'll be waiting forever. You jerk." With that childish retort, Eiri swung round and stalked off, fuming. _Kill me? _She thought furiously, trying to regain control of herself. Deidara was like a brother to her. When she first came – first entered the Akatsuki, he was the one who made her laugh. Deidara had never – _never – _looked at her with such anger in his eyes before.

What on _earth _did that – that – that _man _do?

* * *

Normally Hidan would have not only detected Deidara before the attack was made, but he would also have had enough time to send a well-placed kick the bomb expert's way. As it was, with his chakra gauge more or less empty, Hidan found himself slammed up against a wall, a kunai pressing against his throat.

"_Teme," _Deidara's simmering anger could be heard clearly in his low tones, "you understand, don't you! She's no longer the Eiri you knew, un. She doesn't even feel anything for you!" Rigid muscles stood out in the arm gripping the kunai.

"Fuck…off." Crimson clashed with pale gray, and the two men glared at each other, the one clenching the kunai actually more at risk than the one with the weapon digging into his tensed neck.

Deidara sensed the killing intent suddenly spilling out from the threatened man. He leaped back, sliding to a stop some feet away. "Why did you it, un. "

_Why…_for a moment, Hidan found himself unable to say anything.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

_Hanasaka Eiri. _The moment she said her name everyone knew what she was there for. It was, as Hidan had thought, too…fucking…obvious. Forget any stupid stories about running for her life or being targeted for assassination.

The Hanasaka clan was famous for it's potions – do you want death or to stop death? To turn your eyes or hair blue? To smell or hear for a hundred miles? To give birth again? Their motto was _ask and ye shall receive – _for a price, of course.

It was too much of a coincidence that a person from such a clan would just happen to collapse nearby_, _especially when poison was one of the very, very few things that killed Hidan. No one in Akatsuki managed to think up any specific reason for Hidan to be targeted, but then no clans, orthodox or not, currently needed any reason to eliminate them. The Akatsuki were too much of a threat, with unknown motives and unpredictable actions.

It did occur to them that maybe the Hanasaka girl wasn't targeting Hidan, or _only _Hidan. Poison killed pretty much anybody. She could have been after the entire organization, for all they knew – what, everyone collectively wondered the moment she was introduced, on earth had made Pein accept her?

It wasn't hard to tell she wasn't about to survive long in the Akatsuki. That is, if she didn't have some sort of hidden ability.

When the first thing the Akatsuki leader did was to assign her to Hidan, the silver haired man had the sneaking suspicion he had finally pushed the leader too far. Well, nothing to do about it. Hidan promptly learned how to cook his own food.

He survived a month, then two, then three with his new partner. That didn't tell him he was safe – it was all the time he needed to dig out the truth. Eiri was a good liar, but Hidan could spot bullshit a mile away. Something smelled distinctly bad about the situation this time, and it took really no time at all for him to figure out what was going on.

As he and really everyone else in Akatsuki thought, she was there to kill him. There was something else, too, some threat that the clan was holding over her to make sure she did her job, but Hidan didn't really care. He didn't kill her, either. Life was a lot more worthwhile when there was someone out there trying to murder him. He was fine with her trying, and not that bothered about the thought of her succeeding.

Then unexpectedly he fell in love with her, and that sure changed things. After a little not-too-discreet research that involved not so much a few broken bones as a full-blown bloodbath, he realized it wasn't the people – who he couldn't care less about – that the clan was holding over Eiri, that was their main threat to her. The real threat was this: fail to poison the immortal in six months and we will hunt you down, and we will kill you.

Hidan had lived for a long time. A _very _long time. He hadn't just been waiting for death, he'd been outright courting it with reckless abandon. Faced with this situation he knew what he had to do. It was obvious, really.

He just had to die.

It had been so simple. It _would_ have been so simple, except that Eiri then fell in love with him, and that changed _everything. _Now she couldn't bring herself to kill him. But he couldn't let her die.

What could he do? How could he save her? He could just kill himself, but disregarding the fact that he would actually have to poison himself, which he had a feeling was against his religious precepts, four months with Eiri had taught him a little. Killing himself wasn't, as far as he could tell, going to save Eiri.

"_Love's weird. Without it you're doing alright, in fact you're doing pretty well, and then you fall in love…Then the world turns upside-down and everything spins out of control and…And you just _love _him so much you're terrified…" _Sitting up, Eiri had turned to him and smiled. _"You find yourself thinking about him all the time. At the most unexpected moments. Just looking at…" she blushed and turned away, "him makes you happy. And when he… " _

Hidan got the upside-down and spinning out of control part, but more importantly killing himself was no longer an option. He didn't know what to do, and he agonized over it for a long period of time. He couldn't commit suicide. She wouldn't kill him, and because of that she was going to get killed. Why wouldn't she kill him? Because she loved him.

Basically it boiled down to that.

What could he do to save her life? _What can I do? _He found himself thinking for the hundredth time, only this time was different; this time he found the answer…

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

* * *

"Because," Hidan replied simply, brusquely, "if I didn't she'd die."

Deidara's shoulders sank as the tension and anger leaked out at the taller man's words. _Oh my god,_ his eyes seemed to say. "Hidan, un…" Deidara cleared his throat. He looked away uncomfortably. "Even if you do, she's still dead, un."

"I'm not giving up on her. Not so easily," Hidan snapped flatly.

There was a pause. Deidara shook his head. "The jutsu will kill you. She will kill you. Un." He stated finally.

Hidan smirked. "What. You thought I didn't know?"

Gray eyes pierced through the air. "You're insane, un."

No answer came to that, and the C2 explosive, which had been standing motionlessly the whole time, chose that moment to step forward and nuzzle his creator. Deidara patted it absently.

If Eiri saw that she no doubt would have smiled, though sadly. She didn't like the fact that his explosives, as alive as most humans were, were made only to blow themselves up. For some reason that disturbed her. _If Eiri saw that, _Deidara thought bitterly. _Un. _

"Deidara." The shaft of Hidan's crimson scythe slammed against the ground, causing tiny spider web cracks to form. "I chose this. If you interfere," the scythe rose effortlessly to point straight at Deidara, former pupil of Sandaime Tschikage. "I'll kill you."

The threat was real. Hidan was one to give death threats all the time and mean them not at all, but this time he was serious. Deidara sensed that, and was truly puzzled.

"I don't care about you, un. I just want to pay the debt I owe you." Deidara paused. "So I leave her alone and the slate is clean, un."

"Yeah, then just leave her well alone, and you can finally pay back that so called damn debt."

Staring at Hidan, Deidara seemed to try to discern something in the man. "She doesn't remember, Hidan. She has no memories of...you."

Something dark – something painful flickered across Hidan's face, coming and going nearly too fast for Deidara to catch. "I know." Hidan's voice was rough.

Despite himself, Deidara swallowed. "Fine, un. I'll leave her alone." Then he leaped on his giant clay work. With two slow flap of its wings, the bird rose to the air, then flew away.

Hidan didn't go to Eiri's room. He didn't go anywhere that day. He just lay down on the dirt and stared at the night sky, falling asleep when the memories swamped him till he couldn't tell whether he was awake or not.

The smell of eggs frying woke him, a wake-up call that was for once decidedly pleasant.

"Hey." Hidan slumped down on a chair in the kitchen.

"Didn't you say you'd get back to me." Eiri replied coldly, stabbing an egg with her spatula. The sky was still dark, and they were the only two people in the kitchen at that time of the morning.

"I'm here, can't you see." Hidan yawned.

"Yeah, ten hours late."

"Seriously…you're so bitchy in the morning, Hanasaka."

Eiri spun round, wielding the spatula dangerously. "I should have turned you into a warty old man long ago!"

"Ah," Hidan raised a condescending finger, "but then we would be a perfect bloody pair, however…you don't commit to relationships."

It took a moment for the double insult to register.

"You – " The enraged girl turned and grabbed the frying pan, with the eggs sizzling inside.

"Oi, oi!" Hidan got to his feet hurriedly, grabbing his scythe.

"Eat your breakfast!" Eiri dumped the eggs unceremoniously onto the plate in front of him. "And I hope they give you diarrhea!"

Hidan regarded the burnt eggs. "I hope they give me more than that," he muttered.

"What?"

"No one will marry you like this, seriously. These aren't eggs, they're chicken shit."

"Cook breakfast yourself next time." Eiri was behind her partner, checking whether the tea was ready.

"Last time I tried – "

" – I know what happened the last time you tried, for god's sake I was there."

"So." Hidan downed the last of the eggs. "You really want me to cook breakfast tomorrow."

Eiri poured the tea into two ceramic cups and kept her silence.

"Haah? I can't hear you," Hidan taunted.

Deidara – an early riser – walked in at that moment, just in time to see the kunoichi pour a packet of white powder into the left teacup. She stirred it with two quick strokes and placed it next to Hidan, who drank it without a second thought.

_So it begins, _Deidara thought. _Un._

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

They had cornered her. It was no longer enough to merely poison the immortal; it never had been. Sending her out on the suicidal mission at all had probably been a poorly disguised plan to get her killed, and now even before her six months were up, the Hanasaka clan had decided they had played enough with Eiri. Like a kitten playing with a mouse before eating it, they went in for the kill.

The reason why they wanted Eiri dead was unknown to Hidan, but the knowledge of that fact was enough for him. He wanted to lose himself and go berserk, but the Hanasaka clan was also known for its pure cunning. He would not be able to defeat them alone, or with whichever armies fool enough to obey him. He would not be able to save her.

_Even if you do, she's still dead, _Deidara had said to Hidan. Truly, no one could escape the wrath of the legendary clan, once directed at you.

Hidan never knew keeping someone alive could be so difficult.

At the start all he had noticed that she would disappear every so often for a few hours, more often than not at night. She probably went off many more times than Hidan knew, and though he suspected that he never confirmed it. Then one day she was unable to hide all her bruises and wounds – Hidan had wondered more than once why she always wore long sleeves and slipped bands on her legs or arms – and after following her he realized she had been sneaking out to confront the assassins. The Hanasaka assassins had actually slipped through their first layer of defence. Hidan was amazed.

After that he followed her carefully, and followed Eiri almost every night she sought out the killers. The tall Akatsuki never offered her his help, knowing she would be too proud to accept.

In fact Hidan found it interesting to watch the girl who had masqueraded as the weakest Akatsuki member systematically, one by one, night after night, defeat one of the world's most deadly assassins. She was, it turned out, inhumanely deadly. Hidan could not account for why she had decided to conceal her skills and allow herself to be verbally abused by him every time they were together, when she could very well have put up a pretty good fight instead.

That night, Hidan was about to use his second last resort. If it failed he would have to erase Eiri's memories, and he didn't like the thought of that at _all. _The jutsu was forbidden not only for the more obvious reasons, but also because it was unstable. The tiniest slip could wipe her blank as a clean sheet, and then…and if that happened, well…

Hidan really, _really _hoped that his second last resort would work.

The tall, silver haired Akatsuki paused a few feet behind Eiri, watching her as she watched the moon. She was at the secluded area did that so often it was almost a kind of ritual for her, and on his more restless nights Hidan been given pause by the pond at the sight of the silent kunoichi, black hair glimmering in the moonlight.

This time he had no such thoughts. Hidan stared at the back of his partner's small form and wondered how someone so strong could be so fragile. He wished he could just turn and walk away, just as he found himself allured by the pain that was sure to come from what he was about to do.

"It's a full moon tonight." Eiri spoke suddenly.

_Walk away, _Hidan thought, _or forward. _The image of Eiri lying still and cold on the dirt, eyes open and unseeing, her throat slit open, formed in his mind. He strode forward. There was no choice at all.

"Yeah." Hidan sat down beside her. "It looks ugly," he muttered absentmindedly.

She turned to him, surprised. "Really?" Eiri surveyed the moon again. "I think it's beautiful."

"You?" Hidan laughed, but that night his laughter lacked its normal mocking tone. "You must have no sense of beauty."

Eiri shrugged, not taking her eyes off the moon. "As if you do, Hidan." Then she grinned. Hidan paused, staring at her, not believing what he was about to do.

He opened his mouth to speak, then turned away. Taking a deep breath, he closed his mouth. And opened it. Their eyes met. He closed his mouth again, looking up. His partner watched, nonplussed at his goldfish impersonation.

"Um." Eiri spoke first. "I have essence of brain damage with me."

Hidan blinked. "What?"

"It makes you babble like a moron. If you need help speaking," she smiled.

"You…" Hidan shook his head. "Really?"

Eiri laughed. "No, it doesn't actually exist. I might invent it one day though!"

Hidan stifled a groan. "What were we talking about?"

"Beauty deficiency."

"Beauty _appreciation _deficiency."

"You would know." Eiri smiled to make the insult a joke.

Hidan shook his head. "I just see things differently."

Surprised, the kunoichi considered him. He wasn't swearing. He had, in fact, not said a foul word yet. "I bet you find your sword beautiful." From her tone, she clearly didn't.

A gust of cool wind swept by and Eiri shut her eyes, shuddering slightly. Loosened by the wind, her dark hair fell forward to frame her face.

Before he could stop himself, Hidan was reaching out to tuck the flowing black behind her ears. His hand lingering by her face, Hidan found himself frozen in the sudden silence. Eiri didn't move away, but then she didn't move at all, only stared at him with eyes wide and almost frightened.

"You." Hidan said, voice rough. "I find you beautiful."

The silence lengthened as Eiri found no words to reply. Acutely aware of his hand by her face, she raised her own hand hesitantly to it, as if ascertain it really was there.

Even at night, Hidan spotted the dark bruises on her left wrist. His hand flashed down and caught her wrist gently, yet even so he felt her wince. His crimson eyes clouded over with black rage.

His fingers almost perfectly into the bruise.

"Did Kakuzu do this."

"No!"

Hidan looked up. His bullshit detector remained silent.

"This was…this was an accident…"

He waited, his patience itself a danger bell.

"Uh…"

"Who." Hidan spoke finally. Eiri looked away, and didn't reply. Reaching out with his other hand, Hidan turned her head firmly to face him. _"Who did this," _he repeated quietly.

Eiri stiffened, then replied defiantly, "it doesn't matter! It was nothing." Her partner stared back, refusing to accept the evasion. "Hidan," Eiri pleaded.

He studied the dark purple bruises. Sliding his hand around, he found that his fingers still didn't fit properly. He switched his grip deftly, making sure she didn't have time to react. It fit perfectly.

A right hand had grabbed her left wrist. It had either pulled her forward or backwards…Hidan frowned. If she had been pulled forwards, the grip would have been different. Backwards then. She hadn't been dragged backwards either, because then the person would have had to either change his grip or twist her arm. And it was a man. No woman had hands so big or fingers so long.

She had been pulled to a stop? Crimson eyes narrowed. And then he hadn't let go.

Hidan looked up to find Eiri avoiding his gaze. A man had stopped her, held her, and probably tried to convince her of something…and she was _protecting _him.

His chest throbbed with a feeling unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It filled him and blanked his mind out, all but for one thought.

_You are _mine.

Completely on impulse, he leaned forward and, still holding on to her wrist, kissed her fiercely on the lips.

_She…is…so…soft…_Hidan almost blushed. And to his mixed surprise and pleasure, after a moment of shock, Eiri's lips started moving against his. Hidan's free hand shot behind her as they fell onto the grass, cushioning her from the fall. Curling his fingers in her hair, Hidan groaned inwardly. She tasted sweet and innocent, something that he hadn't expected, and caught off guard, now he didn't have enough willpower to let her go.

When, gasping, they finally broke apart for air, Hidan looked straight at her, readying himself for a slap. She smelled good; her own scent mingled the unidentifiable scents of herbs and plant extracts she always carried on her person. Her scent was warm and addictive. It always had been, but at this close range, Hidan was getting lost in it.

The slap never came. Instead, the eighteen year old undercover assassin looked at the man she had been ordered to kill.

"Why?" She whispered, hope evident in her gold-flecked hazel eyes.

It was the hope that jerked him back to reality, because it mirrored his feelings. Suddenly he could hear every rustle of dead leaves, every moan of the wind…every shaky inhalation of the kunoichi under him. Hidan felt his chest heart drop to his stomach, then he bent down and brushed his lips against her ear.

"Because I wondered if all the Hanasaka girls are really sluts." His chest clenched. "Seems like it's true." He moved back, hoping to Jashin he had managed to slam down the scornful mask he wore so often. He was nearly afraid at what he would see when he looked down.

Eiri had frozen under him.

Standing up, he brushed his hands over his cloak. "You," he spoke slowly and clearly, "are fucking disgusting." He wondered if he should spit to the side. Didn't matter, his mouth was dry anyway. He turned and left.

If after that she still couldn't find it in herself to kill him, then to get her to hate him _enough _he'd have to rape her, and Hidan knew he wouldn't be able to do that. If she still couldn't carry out her mission to poison him he'd just wipe her memories till she forgot she had ever loved the man she had only ever known as Hidan.

Eiri didn't return that night, or the day after.

He didn't look for her.

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

* * *

A month passed, and Deidara watched as Hidan grew paler day after day – not due to lack of exposure to the sun, but rather as if something in him was being drained little by little. Every morning after the first time he noticed Eiri slipping something in Hidan's drink he watched her carefully during meals. Hanasaka's guard must have been down on that first day, because thereafter Deidara never caught her outright in the act again. Sometimes, though, he caught a glimpse of something that _could _have been the edge of an empty packet disappearing in her hands, as if by magic.

Growing paler wasn't the least of Hidan's worries either. His face had taken a gray cast and the circles under his eyes had become permanent in the last week of the month. In the main trash can, where everyone emptied their own trash, Deidara began spotting blood speckled handkerchiefs.

Only a month had passed, but it was obvious Hidan was going to die.

Hidan was going to die. Thinking that felt strange, like thinking his Akatsuki cloak was bright pink. It was just wrong.

Hidan was a constant. He didn't die, and he didn't just lie back and let himself get killed. But one look at the man and you could tell he _was _dying, and would get there sooner rather than later if things didn't change.

Deidara decided to at least try and make the man see sense. The arrogant, rude silver-haired Akatsuki had saved his life, _once. _A long time ago. But Deidara didn't forget his debts, and he sure as hell wouldn't let Hidan leave for what would most likely be hell before it was repaid. So Hidan said that leaving him alone was what he wanted, but Deidara wasn't sure if letting him die a pointless death was the best for everyone, least of all the girl. Who Hidan seemed to be most concerned about.

Knowing that Hidan would be more likely to rip his head off than hear him out, Deidara made up his mind to try the girl first. Then he was sent out on a mission and another month later, when he finally got back from the other corner of the world, he found Hidan still alive, but not likely to remain that way for three days more.

The Yugakure missing-nin was sitting against his door, scythe propped up next to him.

He looked like a corpse.

"Hey," Deidara sat in front of him. "No strength to get in, un?"

"Bloody shit," Hidan swore hoarsely, "don't be fucking stupid."

Deidara shook his head.

"Get lost, Deidara."

"You're really gonna die, un."

"…Finally, dammit…" Hidan grinned, and the resulting picture was a ghastly one. Deidara had seen better looking corpses. The man's life was now obviously measured in minutes.

"No matter what you do, Eiri's dead, un! What use is all this? A testament to her memory, un?"

"Eiri's _going _to be dead," Hidan corrected.

"She is _dead! _Un!_" _Deidara snapped. "Going means there is a possibility she will not die. That won't happen, un."

"So I'm fucking dead."

"You're gonna be dead, sure enough, if you don't release the jutsu, un."

Hidan took a deep breath, and shut his eyes. When he opened them again, suddenly it was as if his health had never deteriorated, and it was the normal, arrogant Hidan that was glaring at Deidara. "Deidara." Hidan snapped. "_Don't _interfere. I'll kill you."

Deidara thought that Hidan just might be able to, even in his current state.

"I chose this," Hidan said angrily, then coughed. Blood splattered his hands as he covered his mouth.

Deidara didn't say anything. Something from the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he reached to the side of Hidan and picked up a scroll partially obscured by the Akatsuki cloak. The title read _Forbidden Jutsu: 100 Techniques_

Rolling it open, Deidara stopped randomly in the middle.

_Soul-splitting Bunshin Jutsu:_

_As the name suggests the jutsu involves splitting the soul of the user between the user and bunshin. Unlike most bunshins, where only a tiny part of the soul is loaned to the bunshin, the soul-splitting bunshin jutsus requires exactly half of the user's soul to be given to the bunshin. This results in the technique having some unique characteristics that is not found in any other bunshin jutsu, however the soul cannot remained split for ever. The longer this jutsu is maintained, the more dangerous it is for the user. _

_Sequence: Boar, Ox, Ram, Tiger, Dragon, Ox, Dog, Horse_

Quickly scanning through the scroll, Deidara found that nearly all of them had the same death threat equivalents in the description. No wonder they were forbidden.

He placed the scroll back and stood up. Hidan hadn't said anything while he was reading, presumably either too tired or lazy to speak.

"You're a stupid man, un," Deidara said, "but I count you as my friend."

Hidan didn't say anything. Deidara glanced back, wondering…

Deidara placed his hand under Hidan's nose. Then he stood and turned, making for the Hanasaka girl's room.

Yeah, he was breathing. But so lightly Deidara could only feel the tiniest movement of air. _Breathing, but for how long…un. _

"Un," Deidara grunted as he kicked Eiri's door open and strode inside. A flash of metal shot out and he dodged just before the kunai impaled itself in his head.

"Dangerous, un," Deidara muttered.

Eiri stood in her room, a kunai held firmly in her right hand, a wrist flick away from lodging itself in his chest. "Scram, Deidara," she said, her voice cold.

The bomb expert frowned.

"Get lost, you bloody idiot!" She yelled.

"Your personality changed, un," Deidara commented, as if to himself. "Then that must mean…" He glanced at the door. "Hidan's only got a few more seconds left, doesn't he, un."

"You got that right," Eiri smiled, the crooked grin strangely disturbing on her face. "See…" The kunai slipped from her fingers and she held out her hand. Deidara watched in a kind of horrified fascination as smoke started spiraling from the tips of her fingers. "…Too late."

Before Deidara could move forward and kill her, the girl burst into flames.

He sank to the ground, suddenly achingly weary, staring at the smoking pile of ashes. "You're such an idiot, Hidan…un."

He didn't bother going to Hidan's room to check. Without a doubt the man was dead. It was the only explanation, the only way the girl would disappear like that. Hidan would have held onto the jutsu till he exhaled his last breath.

Deidara shook his head, and buried his face in his hand.

It began the day Eiri disappeared. To be more precise it would have to be said that it began the day Hidan saw her, because even then Deidara could tell they had some sort of mutual attraction, but everything started the day she disappeared.

Hidan had walked in looking like death that night, and most everyone had avoided him. Even Kisame kept his remarks to himself. Eiri didn't go back, but Deidara only knew that because he had walked in to ask about Hidan's unusually black mood. She wasn't in. Deidara made the connection.

When her room remained empty the next day he started getting worried.

That afternoon he confronted Hidan, and after a heated argument the two men started searching for her. The search took only an hour or so. The area they had to search was large, but then Deidara had his giant flying explosives, and Hidan could actually move fast when he wanted to. It would have been hard to miss her, actually. The battle had taken place a long way from headquarters, but the site of the battle was a wasteland for twenty metres in either direction.

Eiri lay in the middle, grass under her stained black with drying blood, a gaping wound in her chest. They found her at the same time. Deidara had been searching for Hidan to exchange info.

Deidara had taken one look at the sight, then turned away and emptied his stomach on the ground. He didn't need to go closer to confirm what he already knew – there was no way she was still alive. Not with hole that size in her.

Hidan walked forward, face completely blank except for his eyes, which were wide with horror.

They buried her where she lay, marking her grave with a rare obsidian stone stolen from headquarters. Fury he had never felt before simmered within Deidara. Eiri had been like a sister to him, and he had always admired her sense of humour and easy acceptance. Hidan had an explanation to make, and if it wasn't satisfactory he would find himself closer to _dead _than he'd ever been before. But Deidara took one look at the man's face and found his anger leaking out.

He guessed Hidan was paying for whatever he had done, and dearly.

A few days later, Deidara heard that the Hanasaka clan's main house had burnt up in flames. Rumour was that just one lone man had attacked the main house. It was a remarkable feat, especially since the clan had been protecting itself against such attacks for decades. He had no doubts as to who had managed the massacre.

He found Hidan, and sure enough, the man sported an impressive array of wounds. If Hidan hadn't been immortal...

Deidara didn't allow himself to be chased away that night. "She was like a sister to me, un. You owe me an explanation, un."

Hidan hadn't spoken at first. Then the heavily wounded man slumped forward from his seat on the bed.

_They sent her to bloody kill me, you know that. She didn't want to. _(Deidara read between the lines and took that to mean she had fallen for him, something he had suspected but never really managed to believe) _They threatened to kill her family and friends if she didn't. Then they threatened to kill her and she still…fucking…refused. I don't want to live that much anyway, so I tried to make her hate me so she'd just fucking kill me. That was the day she didn't come back. _

_The assholes sent out their assassins and killed her. But what I heard at the clan yesterday – _Hidan glanced down at his wounds, as if remembering how he got them – _was that akari, the poison she ate a few months back, was actually lethal. That was how she got killed. 'Cause the poison sapped her of her strength. If they just waited a year longer, she would have lost her ability to use chakra. _

Deidara didn't know why that mattered so much to Hidan – after all, dead was dead, but then he decided he'd heard enough and left the room. The people who had to pay had paid. What was left to say?

That was until he saw Hidan walk back from a mission two weeks later with Hanasaka Eiri, who was supposed to be _dead, _walking next to him.

It took him a moment, but Deidara figured out pretty fast what had happened. He had _heard _of that jutsu before, but never actually seen it. The Soul-splitting Jutsu. She hadn't been brought back from the dead. There were always visible side effects, and the girl looked as alive and normal as…as the real thing. She wasn't a normal bunshin either, because she really, _really _looked like the real deal – walked like her, talked like her, crinkled her nose just so, like her.

Deidara also knew the side effects. The jutsu had split Hidan's soul in two, and as if that wasn't bad enough, it was clear that Hidan was going to hold the jutsu as long as he could. Normally bunshins never lasted more than a few seconds, or a day at the most. The strain might even be enough to kill the immortal man.

Hidan was the only one crazy enough to try it. Deidara couldn't understand why on _earth _he was doing something so insane. Clinging on to her memory and then actually dying for it was...was utterly mad.

It was actually something Eiri had said.

"_You find yourself thinking about him all the time. At the most unexpected moments. Just looking at…" she blushed and turned away, "him makes you happy. And when he does something for you, no matter how small, it makes you really happy…knowing that he cares. "_

_Eiri, _Hidan had thought in his last moments, _I took your clone with me to kill the elders of your clan…then didn't have the heart to release the jutsu, so I wiped the clone's memory instead. I'll be headed for hell and if you're not in heaven I'll bloody make sure you get there, but…_

_like this...maybe you could believe me when I say that I do care - that - _

_I love you_

Crimson eyes that had a tinge of violet stared unseeingly up at the sky, but there was a hint of a smile in them, as if he was seeing something he had wanted to see for a long time.

* * *

**A/N**: Was it confusing? I really hope not, but if so I apologise. *bows* This was a hard story to write, and I was startled a little by how Hidan could seem so sane at first and suddenly say something that marked him to be utterly crazy.

The inspiration for this story came from a story a wrote years ago, that I unearthed from a moldering pile of old, _old, _notes. The Bunshin turned out to be quite different, but I kept some of the more touching scenes - the ones I found touching, anyway! :D - and just let the story flow on its own. I'm actually pretty happy with how it turned out!

Btw, I think it's interesting to note how Deidara never called Eiri-bunshin by her name.

And reviews would be most welcome! :D


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